


Pretty Little Liars

by MsMKT86



Series: The Pretty Little Liars Series [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Flashbacks, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Old Friends, Secret Identity, Secret Relationship, Stalking, Teacher-Student Relationship, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-05 14:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 18,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsMKT86/pseuds/MsMKT86
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Friends Mercedes, Santana, Tina and Rachel suffer the loss of their friend Quinn. It pulls them apart but things in their lives bring them back together. On their slow journey to being friends again they all begin to be haunted by a familiar stranger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story is very much based on Pretty Little Liars (books and TV). I love both. But I added the Glee twist because, well, I love Glee. I just figured I mention that, yes, this story is heavily based on PLL. So please no comments calling me a thief or any of that, because I intend to put my own twists and turns on this.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like it.
> 
> And as always, COMMENTS and KUDOS = LOVE!
> 
> I DO NOT OWN Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard or I. Marlene King.

**XXXX-The Berry House - August 26, 2011 - 11:45pm-XXXX **

 

“Mercedes wake up.” Tina Cohen-Chang said shaking her friend lightly. 

“What?” Mercedes Jones said groggily as she blinked awake.

“Where did Quinn and Rachel go?” Tina asked. 

“I don't know.” Mercedes said sitting up on the couch in the living room of Rachel Berry. “Santana wake up.”

“What's going on?” Santana asked with yawn.

“Rachel and Quinn are gone.” Tina answered. 

“Where'd they go?” 

“I don't know but guys the door is open.” Mercedes said taking a few steps toward the open door. The second she put her hand on the knob Rachel appeared. “Hey are you ok?” Mercedes asked grabbing her hand. “Where's Quinn?” she asked with a glance back at the door.

“I don't know.” Rachel said quietly. “I was pretending to be asleep and I saw her packing up her purse and make-up bag , so I stopped her at the door and asked where she was going and she said out. She'd be back in a little while.”

“Then where is she?” Tina asked.

“I told her I didn't want her to go. That I didn't know what was going on with her lately but she's been ditching us a lot and it's not cool.” Rachel continued. “She said something mean to me and left anyway. I chased after her but she got away from me in the woods and I saw her get into a car through the trees.”

“Who's car Rachel?” Mercedes asked.

“I don't...I don't know.” I didn't see the driver. It was dark.”

“Well I'm going to call her.” Santana said picking up her cell phone off the table. “It's ringing”

_'Hi. You've called Cheerios Captain Quinn Fabray. Leave a message. I'll answer if you're worthy.'_

“It went to voicemail.” Santana said ending the call, her face worried.

“Look, she said she'd be back later. So, let just get mad at her then ok?” Mercedes said with a reassuring face even though her insides were tying themselves in knots. 

“You're right .” Tina said. “We'll all give her a piece of our minds tomorrow.”

“Yeah so let's get some sleep.” Mercedes said. “If she's not back in the morning we'll go over to her house.” The other three girls gave Mercedes weak smiles and laid down. Not one of them slept that night.

 

**August 27, 2011 - 8:30am**

 

Mercedes Jones, Tina Cohen-Chang, Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry awoke the next day and Quinn still wasn't amongst them. None of them let on that she was worried but deep down they all felt sick to their stomachs. They all showered, dress and packed up for the trip to Dudley Road. 

Pulling in front of the Fabray home, they all exited Mercedes' SUV. As they walked to the door the four girls grabbed hands. Santana rang the bell.

“Oh girls.” Mrs. Fabray said pushing out a breath as if she had been holding it. “Thank God. Come in.” she said waving them inside.

“Is everything ok?” Mercedes asked. 

“Yes.” She said with a smile.

“Good.” Tina said with a sigh of relief. 

“So can we just go up to Quinn's room?” Santana asked. 

“What?” Mrs. Fabray asked looking confused. “Isn't Quinnie with you?”

“Uh no.” Santana answered searching her worried friends faces. 

“She's not getting her bags out of the car?” Mrs. Fabray asked running to the door to look out. 

“No.” Rachel whispered.

“Where is my daughter?” Mrs. Fabray yelled grabbing Mercedes by the shoulders.

“I don't know Mrs. Fabray.” she said sadly. “I don't...I don't know.” 

“Russel!” Judy called out. “Russel!” 

“Is she here?” Russel called out as he ran to meet his wife by the front door. “Where's Quinn?”

“We uh we don't know Mr. Fabray.” Mercedes answered quietly. 

“What do you mean you don't know huh?” he yelled. “You were the last to see her.”

“We know.” Rachel said tearfully. “But she ran off. I couldn't stop her.”

“I think you girls need to leave now.” Mrs. Fabray said pushing them toward the door. As she shut the door behind them, they heard Russel Fabray on the phone.

“Yes this is Russel Fabray. I think my daughter Quinn is missing.”


	2. Happy engagement

**XXXXXXXXXX August 26, 2012 - The Jones House XXXXXXXXXX**

 

Mercedes Jones grimaced at the TV when she heard the news anchor announce that today marks the one year anniversary of the disappearance of Lima, Ohio teen Quinn Fabray. She hated that it was called an 'anniversary'. There was nothing to celebrate about someone going missing. But it'd been a year and people where still talking about Quinn like she was going to appear out of the blue be like 'I got you guys so good.' Which in Mercedes dreams, happened a lot.

A lot of things had changed for Mercedes in the last year. Everyone knew her name in Lima. Not because she was notoriously popular or anything like that but because she was notoriously smart. She had won several academic awards and had even been in the newspaper several times including the time she had her picture taken with the mayor. 

Her family was especially proud of her achievements. Her mother and father couldn't wait to go to the Lima Country Club and dote on their brilliant daughter. It's what they lived for. Mercedes' older sister Malory was also that brilliant daughter that her parents could parade around like some kind of trophy. 

Mercedes hadn't seen her sister in almost four months. Which was absolutely fine with her, but when Malory called home to say that she was staying in Cleveland for the summer and she would be home for the club's end of summer ball her parents freaked out. Mercedes thought this was great. It's not like they were best friends or anything. Not to mention every time Malory was around she had some kind of _amazing_ news that put what Mercedes had accomplished to shame.

“Mercedes sweetie get out of bed.” Darla Jones said peeking into her daughter's bedroom. “You're sister will be here in about an hour.” 

“Oh joy.” Mercedes said under her breath as her mother entered the room and opened her double door closet. “What are you doing?” 

“You should wear this one. It says 'I'm accomplished.'” Mrs. Jones said holding out a black sleeveless wrap dress.

“Uh I was thinking more jeans and a blouse.” Mercedes said crawling out of bed.

“Mercedes your sister is coming home.” Darla said haughtily.

“Yeah from Cleveland not Afghanistan.” Mercedes said taking the dress from her mother and putting it back in the closet.

“I just thought you would want to look nice.” Darla said from behind clenched teeth as she left Mercedes alone in her room. 

“Great.” Mercedes said as she grabbed the black dress from the closet.

* * *

 

Mercedes wasted no time preparing for her sister's arrival. The day didn't only mark Malory's return but also her father's. He had been away on business and he was coming home just in time for the ball. 

As she was applying the final touches to her make up she heard her father's voice. She smiled in the mirror and ran downstairs to greet him. 

“Dad!” she said beaming.

“Hey Mercy!” he said lifting her off the bottom step into a tight hug. “You look gorgeous. Any luck this was all for me.”

“Of course not. Don't you remember. Malory's coming back from the war.” Mercedes teased.

“Shhh.” Micheal Jones said with a deep chuckle. “You mother told me about your little comment this morning. As funny as it may be, she wasn't amused.”

“I know. It just kind of slipped out.” Mercedes said smiling.

“Well let's keep the slippage to a minimum.” he said kissing her forehead.

“Oh Dad I have something to tell you.” Mercedes said walking with her father toward the kitchen.

“Yeah what's that?”

“This summer I was named the editor of...”

“We're here.” Malory's voice rang out.

“Hey Mal!” Micheal said running over to hug his eldest. 

“Hi Dad. Where's mom?” Malory said returning his hug.

“I'm right here.” Darla said running from the study. “Oh Malory you look amazing.” she said embracing her.

“The McKinley High newspaper.” Mercedes muttered. 

“Hey Merc.” Malory said with a big smile.

“Hey Mal.” Mercedes said walking over to her sister and giving her a hug. 

“So you guys, there is someone I want you to meet.” Malory said. She opened the back door and waved someone in. A tall, dark hair man with blue eyes and a wicked sexy smile walked in.” Mom, Dad, Mercedes. This is my fiance Jesse St. James.” 

“Fiance?” Darla said searching her husband's face. 

“Malory what's going on here?” Micheal said sternly.

“Jesse and I are engaged. We're getting married this winter.”

“I think we need to talk about this.” Darla said her eyes wide. Mercedes watched as her parents cornered her sister and started bombarding her with questions.

“I'm Jesse.” he said taking a seat beside Mercedes at the island.

“Mercedes.” she answered. 

“Is it always like this?” he asked.

“Only when my sister brings home random strangers and announces that they're engaged.” Mercedes joked.

“Ahh.” he laughed. “Well Mal didn't lie about you.”

“What do you mean?”

“She said you were funny and beautiful.”

“Oh.” Mercedes said shocked. She couldn't remember the last time Malory has said anything nice to or about her.

“You sound surprised.” 

“Well, I kinda am.” 

“Why? The way she talks about you it seems like you're her favorite person.” Jesse said glancing at the other three Jones'.

“Me? Mercedes?” she said looking into his blue eyes.

“Yeah.” he chuckled. 

“Ok.” she said smiling. 

“So how long do you think this is going to go on?” Jesse asked.

“At least another hour.” Mercedes said. “I bet you I know what they're saying.”

“Tell me.” Jesse smiled.

“My mom is disappointed that Malory didn't tell her when you first asked or that she was even dating anyone, and my father is upset that his little girl is marrying a long hair hooligan, but she'll cry and they'll forgive her for her mistakes and they'll turn to you with open loving arms and welcome you to the family.” Mercedes said pointing to each of parents.

“Hooligan?” Jesse laughed. “I'm pre-med, I sing and play the piano.”

“Really?” Mercedes asked intrigued.

“Yeah. I mean my parent's house is nothing like this and could probably fit in the barn you guys have out back, but I was pretty well off.”

“First, it's not a barn. It's a cottage.” Mercedes said. “I spent a lot of time on it. My parents promised me that I could move in there for my junior year. Second, being well off doesn't mean that your happy or that things are as great as they seem on the outside.”

“Are you saying you think I'm flawed?” he asked.

“I know you are but I'm just saying that our house may be big and we may have a barn out back, but we're as dysfunctional as it comes.” Mercedes said.

“Well no one's family is perfect Mercedes.” Jesse said.

“I know, but I think mine is at the top.” she said smiling at him. They continued to talk as Darla, Micheal and Malory continued their hushed conversation. 

“Well son.” Micheal said about an hour later. “Welcome to the family.” he said clapping Jesse on the back. Jesse looked at Mercedes with an impressed face before rising to his feet.

“Thank you sir.” he said shaking Micheal's hand. Darla came over and hugged Jesse and kissed him on both cheeks causing Mercedes to roll her eyes. 

“I can't wait to get settled back in.” Malory said coming to stand beside Mercedes.

“What?” 

“Mom and Dad said Jesse and I could move into the cottage.” Malory said smiling.

“What? No!” Mercedes said angrily. “Mom that's not fair.”

“Mercedes it's a bigger space.” Darla said grabbing her daughter's hand.

“I worked really hard on it. You promised me.” Mercedes said pleading.

“I'm engaged Mercedes. I can't move into my old room with my fiance.” Malory said taking Jesse's hand.

“Oh but you can move back and live in your parent's backyard.” Mercedes said annoyed.

“It's only until our house in Cleveland is ready.” Malory said agitated. “Stop being such a baby.” Jesse gave Mercedes an apologetic smile. 

“Right.” Mercedes said quietly. “Happy engagement.” she said before running upstairs to her room.


	3. Strange

**XXXX August 26, 2012 – The Cohen-Chang House XXXX**

 

“Alex!” Tina Cohen-Chang yelled as she tripped over a box in the hallway outside of her room door. “Mom told you to put your stuff in your room.” 

“Don't yell at me because you're clumsy.” Tina's younger brother Alex said peeking out of his room. 

“Shut up.” Tina said picking up the book she dropped on the floor. 

“Where are you going anyway?” Alex said picking up the box.

“Out.” Tina answered simply as she headed down the stairs. 

“Hey Tina where are you headed?” Sandra Cohen-Chang asked with a box labeled kitchen in her arms. 

“I was just going for a drive.” Tina answered. “Maybe go read in the park.”

“Great well take Alex with you.” 

“What? Why?” Tina pouted. 

“I have football try outs.” Alex said running down the stairs, his cleats in hand. 

“Fine. Let's go.” Tina said pushing her brother out the door. “What time is the try out over?” she asked him once they were pulling away from the curb. 

“Five.” Alex answered, putting in his headphones. Tina turned on the radio and drove her brother to McKinley High. Outside she saw some familiar faces, unloading coolers from trunks and just playing boyish games.

“I'll be back at five.” Tina said as Alex slammed the door shut. Before she pulled off there was a knock on her window. “Hey.” she said putting the window down.

“Hey. Remember me?” the guy said kneeling down beside the car.

“Uh yeah. You're Noah Puckerman right?” Tina said. 

“Yeah. It's just Puck though. Are you guys coming back to McKinley?”

“Yeah.” Tina said with a smile. “Anything different about this place?” 

“Not at all. Same old boring place except now you have Puckerman parties to look forward to.” he said with a smile.

“Cool. Well I'll see you tomorrow.” Tina said.

“Yeah. I'll give you the welcome back tour.” Puck said standing and patting the roof of her car. Tina smiled at him and pulled out of the parking lot. 

Tina's family had just moved back from England. Her father, Gregory Chang, was a professor at Cookham University in Lima. He got offered a position at Oxford the week before Quinn went missing. So when everything got to much handle he accepted the position and off the Cohen-Changs went. Tina was more than ok with this. She needed to get away. 

Tina was a changed person now though. Being in England she got to start over. She got to be whoever she wanted to be without having to worry about someone mentioning Quinn's name and her breaking down. England had been good for her. It allowed her to find Tina. Once this little girl who was shy around boys and wore whatever Quinn told her cool was now completely confident, could handle herself around boys and had a 60's goth style was back in the same town that she was so happy to have fled in the first place. 

The legal drinking age in England is eighteen but with Tina's new found powers of persuasion she got a boy to make her a fake ID. Luckily before she left, as a present her “contact” made her a fake ID for the state of Ohio. Yes, the guy was that good. So Tina decided to put her gift to use. She took a deep breath as she pulled into the parking lot of the Cook House Bar on the Cookham campus. Plastered on the wall of the bar was a poster asking for information about Quinn Fabray. Tina couldn't pull her eyes away from the picture of Quinn on the poster. She looked so happy. She looked like Tina remembered her. Confident, bubbly and full of secrets. 

Shaking her head, Tina exited the car. The bar was relatively empty. Which was normal considering it was the middle of the day. She slid into an empty booth and a waitress approached her. Tina reached into her wallet and pulled out her gift. The girl took it, looked at the date and picture and handed it back to her.

“So what'll it be?” she asked.

“A Mackeson Stout.” Tina answered with a smile. 

“Coming right up.” the girl said scribbling in her notepad. Tina pulled the book out of her bag and began to read. 

“Mackeson Stout huh?” a voice asked.

“Uh yeah thank you.” Tina said not looking up from her book. 

“That was a very admirable choice for a young woman.” the voice said with a chuckle.

“What?” Tina asked looking up. She saw a beautiful Asian man looking at her with a smile.

“Your beer.” he said. “You don't see a lot of girls ordering that.”

“I'm not most girls.” Tina said with a crooked smile.

“May I sit?” he asked. Tina nodded yes. “I'm Mike.”

“Tina.” she said shaking his outstretched hand.

“Nice to meet you, Tina.” he said with a smile.

“You too Mike.”

“So what are you reading?” Mike asked grabbing her book. 

“Pride and Prejudice.” Tina answered handing him the book. “It's my favorite. I can relate to Elizabeth.” 

“How so?” Mike asked. 

“She was always different from everyone else, and so am I.” Tina said. “We both embrace it and don't try to hide it. Granted she was always like that and it took me a while to find that side of me.”

“That's a good answer.” Mike said with a smile. 

“So what are you doing in a bar in the middle of the day?” Tina asked. 

“Stress relief.” he answered chuckling. “I start a new teaching job on Monday and I don't want to screw up.”

“You're a teacher?” Tina asked. 

“Yeah. I know I'm young but I'm awesome so.” he said with a shrug.

“Right.” Tina said laughing. “So how do you know about Mackeson Stout? Most people have never even heard of it.”

“I'm kind of a beer connoisseur. The better question is how do you know about it?” he asked. 

“I spent the last year in England.” she answered.

“England. That's cool. You like to travel?” he asked. 

“Yeah. I love seeing the world.” Tina said gently biting her bottom lip. 

Mike's question lead to an hour of conversation. They talked about books, life dreams, and everything else under the sun. Tina liked this guy. He was mature. He was handsome. Ok, he was hot and he was genuine. 

“I'll be back.” Mike said excusing himself. As she watched him enter into the men's room she decided to seize the moment.

* * *

 

Tina stood outside of the men's room breathing deeply.

_'Just do it.'_ she thought to herself. She rang her hands, took a few more deep breathes and pushed the door open. The pungent smell of urine and the unbearable odor of a thousand different colognes stung her nose but she ignored them because she was on a mission. 

“Tina!” Mike shouted his voice echoing around the rectangular room. “What are you doing in here?” he said turning his back to her making sure his zipper was up. 

“I uh..I just wanted to see something.” she said. 

“The men's room?” he questioned with a chuckle, washing his hands in the sink. 

“No.” she said as she watched him dry his hands on the brittle looking paper towel. 

“Then what?” he said throwing the paper away and standing in from of her. She didn't answer him. She just stood on her toes and kissed him. 

“That.” she said her feet flat on the ground now. Mike gave her a crooked smile and placed his hands on either side of her head and leaned down and kissed her. Tina placed her arms around his waist and deepened their kiss. 

“Wait.” Mike said breathless. He pushed her away and held his arm out when she approached again. “Shouldn't we lock the door?” Tina laughed and grabbed his face and started kissing him again. She felt Mike's strong arms wrap around her and then lift her into the air and place on the counter against the wall. She giggled as Mike stood between her legs looking at her.

“What?” she asked.

“You're a strange girl Tina.” Mike said with a smile. 

“Should I be insulted?” she asked.

“No.” he said kissing her lips. “I'm just saying not many girls would make out with a stranger in the grimy bathroom of a dive.”

“I'm not most girls, you're Mike not a stranger and making out where you can get caught is half the fun.” she said smiling.

“Strange.” Mike muttered as he leaned in a kissed her deeply.

 

 


	4. “Jesus is watching us”

**XXXX August 26, 2012 – The Berry House XXXX**

 

Rachel Berry sat at her vanity brushing her dark brown hair with it's chocolaty lo-lights when her phone began to ring. 

“Talk to me.” she said pressing the bluetooth in her ear. 

“Hey are you ready for some serious shopping?” the voice on the other end said perkily. The voice belonged to Rachel's best friend Vanessa Helston. Vanessa befriended Rachel last year. Quinn had disappeared and her old friends, well something changed between them. Everything felt distance and strained. Vanessa had always lived two houses down from Rachel but Quinn had always forbid being friends with her. Vanessa was a Lima Loser according to Quinn. 

_'Do you want to be a double L too, Rachel?' Quinn would ask in a snarky tone._

_'No but my mom wants me to be friends with her.' Rachel answered quietly._

_'If you do it you're out. We're exclusive. No Double L's allowed.” Quinn said with a smug look on her face, while the other three just looked on. “But you can be friends with her if you want. I'm sure that Berry Cobbler and Loch Nessa can find another crew.'_

_'Ok fine.' Rachel said defeated. 'I won't do it.'_

_'Good.' Quinn said hugging Rachel. 'I love you Rachel, I'm just looking out for you.' she whispered._

But Quinn had been wrong about Vanessa. She was sweet, caring, kind and one of the best friends that Rachel had ever had. She was there for her when her other friends were drifting away. Vanessa picked Rachel up, befriended her and they both took to the task of making themselves over. Being the new and improved popular Rachel Berry and Vanessa Helston. 

Rachel had always been on the pudgy side and she had always been self-conscience about it. Her hair was limp and a drab light brown. Vanessa was the typical nerd girl. Smart, in to academic clubs and after school role-playing in the park. Well two months into the school year Rachel and Vanessa gave their images a total redo and they have the queen bitches ever since.

“Vanessa I have three huge events coming up. Of course I'm ready.” Rachel said applying her mascara in the mirror. 

“Three?” Vanessa asked.

“The end of summer ball at the LCC, Puck's party and handing in my V Card.” Rachel said walking to her closet.

“Really Rach? It's been like forever.” Vanessa said. 

“Look, I wanted it to be special.” Rachel said.

“So, Christmas, your birthday, his birthday and every Puckerman party this summer weren't special enough for you?” Vanessa asked.

“It takes two people to have sex you know.” Rachel said holding up dresses in from of herself in the mirror.

“He doesn't want to?” 

“I don't know. You know he's into that whole “Jesus is watching us” stuff.” Rachel said.

“Well if I were Logan, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off you.” Vanessa said matter-of-factly.

“Aww, thanks V.” Rachel said with a laugh. “Come over. I'll be ready in thirty.” Rachel said before ending the call.

XxX

Thirty minutes later Vanessa arrived at Rachel's house.

“You ready?” Vanessa asked checking her lip gloss in the mirror.

“Yep.” Rachel said walking toward her. “You look amazing.” And she really did. Vanessa wore a white button up with white lacy flowers and a denim mini skirt. 

“So do you. Tre cool.” Vanessa said checking her friend out. Rachel had chosen a sleeveless mini dress that was white with red dots that was accompanied with a thin red belt.

“I know.” Rachel joked. “Mom, V and I are headed to the mall.”

“Be back by 4:30. We have to start getting ready for the ball.” Shelby said meeting her daughter at the door.

“Of course.” Rachel said.

“Ok. $400 only Rach. Love you.” she said kissing her on the cheek.

“I know Mom.” Rachel said returning the kiss. “Bye.”

XxX

“Do you think yellow is my color?” Rachel asked modeling a dress for Vanessa.

“Eh. Try more of a gold.” Vanessa said.

“Good idea.” Rachel said. “Who are you going with tonight?”

“No one. Well no one off the A-List like Logan.” Vanessa answered.

“A-List?” Rachel questioned. “I thought that list was long gone.”

“You only don't care about the list because you and Logan Brower are right at the top.” Vanessa said rolling her eyes.

“You were third, V.” Rachel said emerging from the dressing room again.

“I know. Behind Mandi Briggs with her plastic lips and her liposuctioned stomach.” Vanessa said indignantly. Rachel lauged. “It's true. No one spends four months at the beach.

“Right. She left with two toothpicks on her face.” Rachel said laughing.

“And came back with an Angelina Jolie pout.” Vanessa laughed.

“The best thing was that she actually tried that “it's natural” bit.” Rachel said.

“Yeah, as real as Kris and Kim's marriage.” Vanessa said causing Rachel to laugh loudly.

“Let's get out of here.” Rachel said getting herself together.

“Hey isn't that Santana Lopez?” Vanessa asked pointing across the mall.

“Yeah.” Rachel answered quietly. “Um, I'll be right back.” Rachel handed Vanessa her bags and crossed the mall to her old friend. “Hey Santana.” she said from the other side of the clothes rack Santana was browsing.

“Hi Rachel.” she said with a smile. “How have you been?”

“Good. You?” Rachel asked.

“Ok, I guess.” Santana said with weak smile. “It's just hard today you know.”

“Yeah I know.” Rachel said patting Santana's hand. “So are you coming to the ball tonight?”

“Yeah. I'm going with Nick Winslow.” Santana said.

“Wow you've been with him for a while.” Rachel said.

“Yeah, about eight months.” Santana said with a shrug.

“That's great Santana, well I better get going. Vanessa's waiting. I'll see you tonight.”

“Bye Rachel.” Santana said with a brief wave. Rachel waved back and walked back toward Vanessa.

“You ready?” Vanessa asked handing her her bags back.

“Yeah.” Rachel said taking her bags still looking over her shoulder at Santana. “Let's go.”

 


	5. Dark Kisses

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX August 26, 2012 – The Lopez House XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wake up mi hija." Maria Lopez said with a light knock on her daughter's door.

"I'm awake." Santana said sitting up. "Didn't really get much sleep."

"Awww. Well the day will get better." Maria said crossing the room to Santana's bed.

"I doubt it." Santana whispered.

"Well have you picked out a dress for tonight?"

"I have to go to Dark Kisses and pick it up today." Santana answered.

"Are you still going with Nick?" Maria asked.

"Yeah mom." Santana said getting out of bed.

"Well you better get going. I want you home by 5:00pm."

"Ok. I'll be home before then."

"Your sister took the car." Maria said.

"Of course she did." Santana said under her breath as her mother exited the room. Her sister, Christina, had been home all summer and suddenly, Santana's car became hers. Usually that annoyed Santana to no end but today, for some reason it didn't really phase her. She showered, dressed, grabbed her iPod and started walking to the mall.

The Lopezes lived on the perpendicular street from Dudley Road. When she got to the corner she took a deep breathe before proceeding. Walking past the Fabray house was always hard but today she didn't know if she was going to be able to make it. Since the Fabrays moved away to Pennsylvania their house sat empty. Walking past it always gave Santana an uneasy feeling. Like the house was watching her, but today the feeling that was usually only in her stomach had spread over her whole body. Santana took another deep breath, turned the volume up on her iPod and took off in a brisk walk around the corner.

She was stopped in her tracks when she saw moving vans in from of the Fabray house.  _'Were the Fabrays moving back? Did they find Quinn?'_ Her mind raced as she took off into a run toward the house.

"Excuse me. Who's moving in?" she asked one of the movers.

"The Pierces." he answered struggling.

"Oh. Thank you." she said with a brief smile. When she turned to walk away she saw a box of familiar items on the curb. They were Quinn's. A yellow stuffed bunny that her brother had given her with she was five or six. Pictures of her their old group of friends at the Fabray's summer house in Westerville and a yellow butterfly barrette that Santana had given her for her birthday.

"Hey." a sweet voice said. Santana pulled her eyes away from the box to see a beautiful girl with long blonde hair standing in front of her.

"Hi." she said.

"I'm Brittany S. Pierce." she said with a big smile.

"I'm Santana. Lopez." Santana said. She couldn't stop looking at the girl. There was something about her that was pulling in.

"Did you know the family that lived here before?" Brittany asked sitting down on the curb.

"Um yeah." Santana said joining her.

"Well I found that stuff in my room if you want it." Brittany said pointing to the box.

"Are you sure?" Santana asked staring at the box.

"Yeah of course." she said. "I have enough stuff."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you wanna come in?"

"No. I can't. I have to go." Santana said shooting up. "Thank you for the box."

"Wait. I'm sorry." Brittany said putting her hand on Santana's shoulder. "I'll keep the box here and you can come back and get it later."

"I don't know." Santana mumbled.

"I can take it your house instead." Brittany said smiling.

"I..."

"I just want to see you again." Brittany said unabashedly. Santana looked her in the eyes but broke her gaze when she felt the heat rising in her cheeks.

"I live around the corner. The second white house on the right hand side." Santana said. "I'll be home about four."

"I'll see you a four." Brittany said smiling. Santana waved goodbye and headed off toward the mall.

Xxxx

"Welcome to Dark Kisses." a tall dark skin girl said as Santana entered the store.

"Hi. I'm here to pick up a dress." Santana said.

"Ok, what's your name?"

"Santana Lopez."

"Ok. I'll go get your order from the back." the girl said with a smile. Santana nodded her head and watched the girl exit to the back room. She decided to browse a little while she waited.

"Hey Santana." a familiar voice said.

"Hi Rachel. How have you been?" Santana asked. It had been almost a year since she and Rachel had had a full on conversation. After Quinn, everything kind of just fell apart.

After a brief conversation about the ball Rachel left to rejoin her new friend Vanessa Helston. Santana would never admit it out loud but she missed her friends.

"Miss Lopez?" the girl said.

"Yes."

"Here is your dress." the girl said laying it down on the counter.

"How much?" Santana asked pulling out her wallet.

"It's been paid for." the girl said with a smile.

"What? That can't be right." Santana said.

"It says right here. Paid." she said turning the screen around to face Santana.

"Well thank you." Santana said grabbing the dress.

"You're welcome. Have a good day." Santana sped out of the store. She didn't understand how the dress could have been paid for. She knew that she still owed $75. She pushed the obvious error out of her mind and started home.

Xxxx

"Hey." Brittany said catching up to Santana at the corner away from her house.

"Hey." Santana said. "I see you've got the box."

"Yep. I told you I'd bring it." Brittany said laughing. "So, what's in the bag?"

"Oh just my dress for the ball tonight." Santana said stepping onto the porch.

"There's a ball?" Brittany asked. "That's so Disney movie."

"Yeah they have a end of summer ball at the Lima Country Club." Santana said laughing.

"And there's a country club too. Wow. Ball gowns and waltzes. It's all so high society." Brittany said grabbing Santana's dress and waltzing around the porch with it.

"Around here they like to think so." Santana said.

"Santana is that you?" Maria said opening the front door. "Oh. I'm sorry I didn't realize you had a friend over."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm Brittany S. Pierce. I just moved in to the Fabray house." the blonde said extending her hand to Maria.

"Oh it's nice to meet you Brittany. I don't mean to interrupt your conversation but Santana

and I have to get ready for the ball tonight."

"No problem. I was just dropping this box off." Brittany said pointing to it.

"Thank you. You can come over tomorrow after school if you'd like." Maria said with a smile.

"Thanks." Brittany said returning the smile.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Santana said as her mother entered back into the house.

"Yeah. Oh and tell your mom that my parents said they're sorry about the all the noise." Brittany said as she stepped off the porch.

"What is all of that?"

"My parents are tearing down that gazebo to put in a tennis court." Brittany said rolling her eyes. "Not my first choice but I'm not paying for it."

"Right. Well I'll tell my mom." Santana said said standing beside Brittany.

"Later Tana." Brittany said kissing her on the cheek. Santana blushed as she watched Brittany walk away and disappear around the corner.

"Bye Britt." she whispered touching her cheek where the blonde's lips had been.

 


	6. The Lima Country Club End of Summer Ball: Santana

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next 3 chapters are the Lima Country Club series. I hope you guys enjoy these. Let me know!
> 
> And as always, COMMENTS, KUDOS, BOOKMARKS and SUBSCRIPTIONS = LOVE!

The Lima Country Club End of Summer Ball was as uneventful as Santana remembered. Except this year she only had her boyfriend Nick to hang out with.

"I'm so ready for school tomorrow." Nick said as they danced around the floor.

"Yeah. Coach Sylvester said I'm gonna be co-captain this year." Santana said with a smile.

"Awesome!" Nick said kissing Santana on the lips. She promptly wiped her mouth. "What's your deal?" he asked annoyed.

"What?"

"You've been weird all night." Nick said. "What wrong with you?"

"Nothing. It's just today, you know." Santana answered quietly.

"Shouldn't you be over that by now?" Nick asked. "It was a year ago and that girl was a total bitch."

"Her name was Quinn." Santana said pushing him away. "And you didn't know her." She ran outside. She had to get away from Nick. She couldn't believe how insensitive he was being.

"Santana?" she heard Nick's voice from behind her.

"What do you want?" she asked wiping the tears from her eyes.

"To apologize. I know you loved Quinn and I shouldn't have said that." Nick said coming up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok." she whispered.

"You ready to go back in?"

"Not yet. Can I get a few minutes?"

"Yeah sure. I'll get you some punch." Nick said kissing her on the forehead. She watched him enter back into the building as she pulled her cell out of her clutch.

_'Hey' she text._

_'HI!' the text she received back said._

_'What's up?'_

_'Jus dancin' Brittany text back._

_'Me too. Haha.' Santana text laughing to herself._

_'U should bring those moves over here.' Santana read._

_'Maybe tomorrow. After school.'_

_'Can't sait._ _**Muah'** _ _Santana blushed, put her phone away and returned to the ball._


	7. The Lima Country Club End of Summer Ball: Mercedes

Stag. It wasn't exactly the most ideal way to end the summer but it's not like she had a choice. No one had asked her and it didn't occur to her to take a break from her summer reading to find a date, so she's the fifth wheel.

She watched while her parents, Malory and Jesse danced around. Last year, she and her friends spiked the punch with some vodka Quinn had taken from her parents.

"You having a good time?" Jesse asked taking a seat beside Mercedes at the Jones' table.

"Oh yeah." she answered sarcastically. "Time of my life."

"Ok. Ok." Jesse said with a laugh. "Well how can I help?"

"Oh, I don't know. Tell my parents I have a contagious infectious disease so they'll let me go home." Mercedes said smiling.

"I can do that."

"No. Then they'll just want to sue everyone and I don't know about you but I don't want to go to jail for falsifying a police report." she joked.

"Have you looked at me?" Jesse asked turning his chair to face her. "There is no way I can do jail. I'm way to pretty." Mercedes covered her mouth to keep her howling laughter in.

"I'm gonna need you to shut up." Mercedes said catching her breath.

"Sorry." Jesse laughed. "Do you want to dance?"

"Where's Malory?"

"She was dancing with you father for the father/daughter dance."

"Of course." she muttered.

"Well, you wanna dance of not?"

"Sure." she said taking a deep breath.

"Let's go milady." Jesse said rising from his chair and extending his hand to her. She smiled and took his hand. Jesse led her to the floor.

At first, Mercedes kept her distance but Jesse pulled her close to him.

"What are you doing?" Mercedes asked.

"Dancing with you." Jesse said in her ear.

"I know." she blushed into his shoulder. "I mean why so close?"

"I'm not in the sixth grade." Jesse said.

"Ha. Ha." she said wryly.

"Well I'm not, and I don't see the point in  _not_  dancing close to a beautiful woman." Jesse said his lips touching her ear.

"Beautiful?" Mercedes asked blushing again. "I think you've got the wrong sister."

"No." Jesse whispered. "You, Mercedes Grace Jones, are beautiful."

"How do you know my middle name?"

"Your mom." Jesse told her.

"Of course." Mercedes whispered. "I know I'm not beautiful."

"Yes you are."

"I might be pretty but beautiful." Mercedes said shaking her head no.

"Hey, look at me." Jess said leaning away from her waiting for her eyes to meet his. "You are beautiful." she blushed again and broke his eye contact. "You just need to see what I see."

She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled.

 


	8. The Lima Country Club End of Summer Ball: Rachel

So far Rachel's night had been at best, boring. Logan had spent more time with his friends than he had talking and dancing with her and Vanessa seemed to be having a pretty good time with her date, Grant Park.

Grant Park was one of Noah Puckerman's best friends. He was cute in a nerdy sort of way. He had always been nice to Rachel even before her make over. Last winter when the A-List came out, Grant was disappointed to see that even though all of his friends had made it into the top ten he was farther down the list in the section labeled B-List. Rachel didn't give it much thought, she was number one on the girls list after all.

Rachel made sure to enjoy every minute she got to spend with Logan and Vanessa. Surprisingly, there were only a few people that she wanted to avoid. Two girls named Rebeca Thoms and Sandy Whitford. They were Quinn's best friends before she dropped them. They had ruled the ninth grade with fear. Quinn was always the queen bitch and Rebeca and Sandy did all of her evil bidding without question. The day before summer break began, Rachel sat on a bench under a tree outside of the school waiting for her mom. She saw Quinn burst through the door, Rebeca and Sandy close on her trail.

_'We are so done.' Quinn had barked at them._

_'Why? What did we do?' Rebeca had asked._

_'You should really pay more attention to the company you keep.' Quinn spat. 'I can't be seen with Double L's.' Her eyes bore into Sandy._

_'My father is looking for a job.' she said quietly, her eyes searching the crowd that was forming._

_'Not hard enough clearly.' Quinn said crossing her arms. 'He just signed up for welfare.'_

_'Come on Quinn.' Rebeca said her arm around Sandy. 'It's temporary.'_

_'Once a Lima Loser, always a Lima Loser.' Quinn said._

_'Is that what this is really about?' Rebeca asked angrily._

_'Of course it is.' Quinn answered, her faced shocked at Rebeca challenging her words. 'If you want to be a Double L, fine, but you're not going to pull me down with you.' she hissed before leaving the two girls on the steps. Rachel's eyes were glued to the blonde girl. She watched her legs take long strides as she took each of the stone steps gracefully. Her breathe caught in her throat when she saw Quinn approaching her bench. She plopped down with a sigh. Rachel kept her eyes glued to sheet music in her lap. They both sat in silence. When Rachel finally worked up the nerve to say something a sleek sports car pulled up to curb in front of them._

_'What are you doing?' the boy in the car asked._

_'Go away Austin.' Quinn said rolling her eyes._

_'I didn't know you were slumming it.' he said. Rachel finally realized who the boy was. It was Quinn's older brother Austin Fabray. He was gorgeous. His skin was the color of sand, his dark chocolate eyes were wild with laughter and his dark brown hair hung down past his shoulders. 'I thought Quinn Fabray was too good to ride the bus.'_

_'I'm not.' she spat. 'My friend's mom is giving me a ride home.' "Friend?" Rachel thought. "Who was she talking about?"_

_'What's her name?' Austin asked with a chuckle._

_'Rachel.' Quinn said smugly. 'Get out of here Austin.'_

_'Whatever Q.' he said as he gunned his engine and shot away from the curb._

_'So can I get a ride or not?' she asked looking at Rachel's shocked face._

_'You know my name?' Rachel asked quietly._

_'Yeah. I've seen you around.' Quinn said smiling. 'I'm...rebranding.' she said throwing a glance back toward the steps where Rebeca and Sandy still sat. 'We should hang out this summer.'_

_'Ok.' Rachel said still shocked. Quinn smiled again and the two girls sat in silence until Rachel's mom showed up._

Rachel was also trying to avoid a boy named Travis Wilson. He was slime. Complete and utter slime. Travis had a bad reputation. One that Rachel wished her mom would distance herself from. He and Rachel's mom had a "special arrangement". There were rumors and speculation about the "special arrangement" between Shelby and Travis but only three people knew the truth behind it, and Travis never missed an opportunity to remind Rachel that he was one of the three.

"Hey Rach." Travis said sitting down beside her.

"It's Rachel and get away from me." she said nastily.

"I thought you'd be happier to see me." he said with devious smile on his face. "Your mom was."

"Shut up Travis." Rachel said through clenched teeth.

"I'm serious. She winked at me and booked me to..." he paused and laughed. " _mow her lawn_  until the winter."

"You're disgusting." Rachel scoffed

"See ya at school." Travis said slyly.

'He's so gross.' she thought to herself as he walked away. When he walked past her mom she did indeed wink at him. 'Ugh.'

_She knew that when her father Hiram left her mom for his new partner Leroy, it was hard on her mom. She was depressed for a long time and Rachel had to step up and take care of everything in the house. One day during the summer that she first became friends with Quinn, Rachel came home to discover her mother having a make-out session with a guy that just graduated from McKinley. Shelby had explained to her that Ryan Masters made her feel young and herself again. So if she saw younger men around the house not to be alarmed and not to be mean to them. This was making her happy. And Rachel had done just that. She wasn't shocked to see a pair of basketball shorts, or a slim fit tee in the bathroom. She wasn't mean to Random Guy #4 in the morning during his walk of shame. She was the ever gracious hostess. It wasn't until she woke to a familiar voice in the hallway. She had wrenched her door open to see a half naked Travis Wilson hanging out of the bathroom door asking her mother about a towel. He had smiled a vile smile and winked at her before saying, 'Morning Rach.' Rachel wanted to throw up right there._

_After her mom appeared and had given him the towel, Rachel pulled her into her bedroom._

_'Mom what the hell?'_

_'What?'_

_'Travis Wilson?' Rachel asked trying not to shout._

_'What about him?' Shelby asked._

_'Gross mom. Gross.' Rachel said. 'He can't stay here.'_

_'That's not your decision.' Shelby said annoyed._

_'Mom, I've put up with all of your hook ups from Cookham but I can't put up with this one.' Rachel explained. 'I see him at school mom.'_

_'It's not really your business Rachel.' Shelby said opening the door. 'I like Travis, plus he cuts the grass for half the price as everybody else.'_

_'Did you ever stop to think that maybe that's because you're sleeping with him?' Shelby didn't answer her. She just rolled her eyes and bounded down the stairs._

Rachel pushed the memory out of her head and kept people watching, when her her phone began to vibrate.

_**I hope you don't think Travis is the only one. The Shelby Express is open 24/7.** _

_**-Q** _

"Quinn?" Rachel whispered as she reread the message.

 


	9. My question is about the summer reading list, Mr. Chang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in updates but I'm going to put up a bunch today so, Happy Reading!
> 
> COMMENTS = LOVE!

**XXXXXXXXXX Monday, August 27, 2012, William McKinley High School 8:15 am XXXXXXXXXX**

"Tina?" a familiar voice called out to her. When she turned around she saw Santana Lopez running toward her.

"Hey." she said when the Latina got close enough. Santana looked exactly the same. Long legs, long silky black hair that was pulled up into a high ponytail, and white and red uniform of the McKinley High Cheerios.

"I didn't know you were back." Santana said hugging Tina.

"Only for a few days." Tina said returning the hug. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm glad you're back." Santana said as they climbed the steps in front of the school. "How was England?"

"Different." Tina answered. "It was just what I needed at the time."

"I understand that." Santana said walking Tina to her locker.

"So what's new with you?" Tina asked pulling her locker open.

"Um, not much." Santana answered quickly. Tina gave her a questioning glance but Santana looked away. She knew that she and Tina used to be best friends but she couldn't tell her the most recent development in her life.

Last night after the ball, Santana took her dress off and as she was placing it back in the bag, she noticed a white card in the bottom of it she pulled it out and read the message that was a typed on it.

_**Tana, Don't say I never bought you anything.** _

_**-Q** _

She had felt happy and confused all at once. Only Quinn had ever called her Tana and everyone knew that she went by Q ever since freshman year and Coach Sylvester called her that. But Santana also knew that Quinn was still missing and she had been for 366 days, but that note sparked emotion in her. She missed Quinn more and more every day but no one really knew how much.

"Are you ok?" Tina asked when Santana spaced out.

"I'm fine." she said smiling brightly.

"Ok good. Uh your phone's beeping." Tina said looking at her schedule and pulling out the books she needed. Santana dug around in her WMHS backpack and pulled out her cell. There was one text from the number 000-000-0000. Confused, she opened the message and read it.

**Shh! Keep me a secret Tana. If you don't, I'll spill about you and your crush: Brittany.**

**-Q**

She gasped as she read the message over and over again.

"Santana?" Tina asked. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah of course." Santana answered. "What's your first class?"

"AP English."

"With who?"

"Mr. Chang."

"Me too." Santana said.

"When I got my schedule I panicked." Tina said with a laugh.

"Why?" Santana asked as they approached their class.

"Mr. Chang. I thought my dad had taken another job." Tina laughed.

"Oh." Santana laughed. "I didn't even think about that."

"Yeah well, I made him swear that this wasn't him so, we're good." Tina said with a smile as they entered into the classroom.

"Not that I don't like your dad but that would be a lot of pressure." Santana said taking a seat beside Tina.

"Right." Tina said putting her books on her desk. She heard a commotion at the door. When she looked up she saw two girls she thought she knew. "Who is that?" she whispered to Santana.

"That's Vanessa Helston and Rachel." Santana answered.

"Rachel Berry? Really?" Tina asked shocked.

"Yeah."

"When did that happen?"

"Beginning of last year." Santana said.

"Wow." Tina said. "Who is that behind the stack of books?"

"Mercedes."

"Yeah my mom told me was like a super brain now."

"She is." Santana said laughing as the bell rang.

"5 MINUTE RULE!" a boy in the front of the class called out.

"5 minute rule?" Tina asked.

"If the teacher isn't here in 5 minutes everyone just goes out to the quad and hangs out for 45 minutes." Santana answered.

"Does that ever happen?" Tina asked.

"Once, but it turned out that the teacher had just found out that her mom died, so when the class wasn't there when she arrived she had a nervous breakdown."

"Really?"

"Yeah, that's why we have Mr. Chang."

"Wow." Tina said opening her personal copy of  _The Outsiders_. She heard the door slam shut and the chalk sliding across the board.

"Ahem." a man cleared his throat. She marked her page and looked up and her eyes landed on the most amazing looking Asian man she'd ever seen. "Holy shit." he said when his eyes met hers. At the same moment her cell phone began to ring.

"Sorry." she muttered breaking her eye contact with him and digging in her purse for her phone. She pulled it out and there was a text message from 000-000-0000. She opened it and read it.

**When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Tina and her HOT English teacher.**

**-Q**

"You ok?" Santana whispered.

"What?" Tina said looking up at the teacher again. "I'm fine."

"Ahem, I'm Mike Chang. I'm your new English teacher. You guys can call me Mr. Chang." he said writing his name on the board.

**XXXXXXXX William McKinley High School – Mr. Chang's Classroom- 9:15am XXXXXXXX**

"What class do you have next?" Santana asked after the bell rang.

"Um, Algebra." Tina answered her eyes focused on Mike.

"I have history but I can walk with you." Santana said slinging her red, white and black backpack on.

"Thanks but I want to talk to Mr. Chang about the books from the summer reading list." Tina said.

"Ok. I'll see you at lunch." Santana said with a smile.

"Great." Tina said returning the smile. She watched as she the last few people exited the room. Mike was at the board with his back to her. She stood up and clutched her copy of  _The Outsiders_  to her chest. She took a deep breath and approached his desk. He didn't turn. She cleared her throat. He looked over his shouldered and then turned quickly to face her. "Hi."

"What are you still doing here?" he asked his eyes searching the empty classroom and his voice low.

"I thought that we could talk." Tina said.

"You should go to class, Tina." he said as he tugged at the bottom of his buttoned vest.

"I'm sorry Mike." she said taking a step toward him.

"For what?" he asked as he moved around the desk away from her. "For having a fake ID, for lying, for causing me to make a fool of myself in my first class on my first day?"

"I didn't lie to you." Tina said.

"Tina, you should go to class." Mike said looking past her. She looked over her shoulder and she saw a few students begin to trickle into the room.

"I'll be back." she said as she walked toward the door.

"There's no homework, Miss Cohen-Chang." he called after her.

"My question is about the summer reading list, Mr. Chang." she said as squeezed out of the door.


	10. I'll be the one lounging poolside drinking a piña colada out of a coconut.

**XXX William McKinley High School – Monday, August 27, 2012 9:25 am XXX**

"TC." Noah Puckerman said as he approached Tina in Algebra class.

"Hey Noah." she said with a smile.

"I prefer Puck." he said as he sat in the desk beside her.

"I prefer Tina." she said with a flirty smile.

"Alright, well are you coming over Friday night?" he asked returning her smile.

"Oh yeah, party at your house." she said opening her notebook. "I don't know."

"Why not?" he asked. "It'll be Friday. Let's do it up."

"What's in it for me?" she whispered as she leaned toward him.

"It's a Puckerman party." he whispered back. "There are many adventures to be had." he said leaning toward her.

"Well party party." she said as the teacher began the lesson. All through class Tina caught Puck looking at her. Not one to be bashful he never looked away; he just smiled.

"Do you wanna sit with me at lunch?" he asked her after the bell rang.

"Thanks for the offer but I have to go see Mr. Chang about the summer reading list and I told Santana that I'd sit with her." Tina said sliding her backpack on.

"Oh. That's cool and I'll let you go be a suck up but you have to promise that I'll see you Friday." he said his thumb behind the one strap of his backpack.

"You know what? I promise."

"For real?"

"Yeah." she smiled.

"You'll be there?"

"With bells on."

"Awesome. See ya later Tina." he said with a wink as he exited the room. Tina smiled to herself and headed back toward Mike's classroom. She knocked on the door and before he could answer she was inside the room, closing the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Mike said standing up from his desk.

"I told you I had a question about the summer reading list." she said in her voice flirty.

"Oh."

"Right well, in one of the books, this girl meets this guy who is older than her but they have an instant connection. But then in a wacky turn of events it turns out that he's her teacher. He's mad at her because he thinks that she lied to him but the only lie she told him the day she met him was that she was 21." she said setting her books on his desk.

"What's your question, Tina?" he asked looking her in the eye.

"My question is what happens at the end?" she asked.

"What?"

"What does the girl have to do to make the guy understand that she wasn't pretending. That she likes him and that the age difference doesn't matter to her and that it shouldn't matter to him either, not if he really likes her."

"The girl wakes up from her dream." Mike said. "She realizes that while the age difference doesn't matter to her, it matters to the outside world and to the outside world, the guy would just look predatory and would be tossed in jail. So she let's go of whatever she  _thinks_  she feels for him and they act like they just met each other."

"Is that really what the guy wants though?" Tina whispered. Mike let out a deep breath and sat back down in his chair.

"Tina we can never be anything other than what we are right now." he said quietly. "I'm your teacher and you're my student. The other day at the bar was a mistake on both of our parts and it's in the past. It's time to move on and forget about it. We both have lives to live and I have a career."

"You know that's not what you want, Mike. You know that you and I connected and I know you felt the fire between us in that bathroom." she said leaning down toward him.

"It's Mr. Chang and I'm done talking about this. Go to lunch." he said turning away from her and back to the papers on his desk. Speechless, Tina grabbed her books and exited the room.

**XXX William McKinley High School Quad -Lunchtime – 12:35pm XXX**

Rachel and Vanessa sat on the stairs leading to the quad with Logan, Grant, Puck, Nick and the rest of the McKinley High Football team.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Vanessa asked as she bit into a carrot.

"Of course I am." Rachel said. "I just got that gold LC by Lauren Conrad dress, which I look hot in by the way. So, I'm definitely ready. The question is, is Logan ready?"

"I don't know how he couldn't be. It's been like 20 years." Vanessa said rolling her eyes.

"Everyone goes at their own pace, V." Rachel said glancing at Logan. She loved him and she hoped that he loved her enough to get that why she wanted to be with him in that way.

"Well his pace must be snail." Vanessa said with a chuckle. "I hope that doesn't apply to actual act."

"Shut up." Rachel said slapping her best friend's arm. She looked back at Logan and thought to herself  _'He's finally mine.'_

_Rachel had always be in total and complete love with Logan Brower. He was tall and muscular. His skin always glowed and he blue-green eyes were always smiling._

_"Rach? What are you staring at?" Quinn asked as the five of them lay out in the front yard of the Fabray house on a hot summer day. Quinn, Tina and Santana wore cut-offs and bikini tops. Mercedes wore a zebra print tank and shorts. Rachel wore Bermuda shorts and a t-shirt._

_"What? Nothing." she answered as she put a handful of popcorn in her mouth._

_"Logan and Rachel sitting in a tree." Mercedes began to sing, causing the other girls to laugh. Quinn looked across the street and saw Logan and his friends playing street lacross._

_"Well you better ease up on the popcorn Rach." she said when she spotted Rachel digging her hand into the bowl again. "I'm pretty sure Logan likes girls that can see their toes." She released the fluffy white food and all the girls just sat silently and watched the boys play._

* * *

Mercedes couldn't help but smile today. The ball had so much better than she had expected to be. All because of Jesse. He was so nice and sweet and she thought he could do better than Malory.

"Why are you smiling?" Kurt Hummel asked as he sat down at the table across from Mercedes.

"I'm not smiling." she said trying to push the smile away.

"Yeah right. What's going on with you?"

"I just had a really good time at the ball and I'm just basking in the post fun afterglow."

"Afterglow. Eventually, I'll experience  _actual_  afterglow." Kurt said. Mercedes laughed and grabbed his hand.

"You're hot. Some boy somewhere is dying to get up on that." she assured him.

"Well, of course there is. I'm fabulous." Kurt said touching up his perfectly moused hair. Mercedes laughed at him. Then her phone began to beep. She reached into her bag and pulled it out. It was a text message from 000-000-0000. Confused she opened the message and read it.

**Cinderella finally made it to the ball. Too bad the prince is too old and SO taken. Some people never learn, huh Mercy?**

**-Q**

"Are you ok?" Kurt asked as he waved his hand in front of Mercedes' face.

"What?" I'm fine." she answered.

"Ok. Are you going to that Puckerman party?"

"For what?"

"Oh I don't know general fun." Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"I have a lot of stuff to do. The paper, homework." Mercedes said. "Maybe next time."

"You're really missing out." Kurt said. "I didn't think I'd have fun either but those parties are bananas."

"I believe you." she said smiling.

"If you change you mind. Meet me there." he said. "I'll be the one lounging poolside drinking a piña colada out of a coconut."

"I'll remember that." Mercedes said laughing. She had no plans to go to that party. She really did have work on the paper. Not mention, Jesse would be there when she got home, and no anon was going to stop her from being excited about that. Plus, there was nothing at that party for her except teenage drinking. She thought to herself,  _'I'll pass.'_


	11. Party, party.

**XXXXX Friday, August 31, 2012 – Puckerman Party – 10:30pm XXXXX**

Tina couldn't wait to escape from the car. She had gotten a ride from Santana and her boyfriend Nick; and Nick had been talking none stop about how "mad awesome" the party was going to be. When the car finally stopped, she was the first one out.

"You ready?" Santana asked her with a gentle smile.

"As I'll ever be." Tina said grabbing Santana's hand. As they walked toward the house, Tina squeezed Santana's hand. She smiled at the Asian girl. Santana was happy that Tina was back in Lima and back in her life. She missed her friends and since Quinn went missing she hadn't felt whole. So when Santana saw Tina Monday at school she feft like a piece of her had been restored.

Tina had felt the same way although she would never admit that out loud. She had missed being able to just call Mercedes when she was feeling frazzled and needed someone to help calm her nerves. She missed being able to call Santana when she needed help understanding a sport. She even missed calling Rachel when she just wanted to talk about music. Her friends had meant a lot to her but after Quinn's disappearance, they could hardly stand to look at each other. Everything felt strained and disjointed.

"Hey guys." Puck said as he approached them, three beers in hand. "I'm glad you made it."

"Where's the game?" Nick asked taking one of the frosty bottles.

"What's game?" Tina whispered to Santana.

"Pool." she answered.

"Oh."

"It's in the garden in front of the pool house." Puck answered.

"Nick, keys." Santana said.

"What?" he asked.

"If you're going to drink, give me the keys." she said.

"Whatever." he said as he took a swig of his drink. Nick fished around in his pocket and then handed the keys to Santana. "I'm out." he said with a brief kiss to her cheek.

"Beer?" Puck asked as he offered Santana and Tina a bottle. Santana shook her head no, but Tina grabbed one of the long neck bottles. He watched her twist the top and press the bottle to her lips. Puck smiled sexily at her. "Party, party."

* * *

Rachel's night was not going at all like she had planned. From the minute they arrived at the party Logan handed her his keys and proceeded to hang out with the boys. Apparently, some lame ass pool game was more interesting than she was.

"Logan?" Rachel said tapping him on the shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I need to talk to you." she said grabbing his hand. "It's important." Logan gave the game one last look before he took Rachel's outstretched hand. She lead him into the house and upstairs to one of the many empty rooms.

"What's this about?" he asked as he set his beer down on the nightstand and plopped down on the bed.

"We've been together for a long time now right?" she asked as she walked over to bed and stood in front of him.

"Yeah, about 10 months. Why?" he asked as he grabbed her hands and kissed the backs of them.

"I think that it's time for us to move into a more..." she began as she stepped in between his legs. She took one of her hands and unzipped the side of her dress. "adult relationship." she said as she pushed him back and straddled him.

"Rachel..."

"I want you, Logan."

"Rachel..." he said.

"I want you." she said between the kisses she was laying on his face and neck. She began to unbutton his shirt.

"Rachel, no!" he said loudly as he pushed her off of him.

"Why?" she asked as she held the gold fabric to her body.

"You know why Rachel." Logan said buttoning his shirt.

"I don't know why you don't want me, Logan." Rachel said as she slowly zipped her dress and averted her eyes.

"I want to wait until I'm married, you know that." he said.

"But we love each other, right?"

"We do but I'm not going to have cheap sex in a random bedroom at a high school party."

"Oh." she said softly, as she fought back the tears that threatened to stream down her face..

"Look, I'm just gonna go back to the game." he said opening the door and left her. Rachel placed her head in her hand and cried. She couldn't believe he said that being with her would be cheap sex. He hurt her and it didn't even phase him. She got herself under control and dried her eyes. She grabbed his abandoned beer and headed back downstairs. Rachel stood at the opening of the garden and waited for Logan to notice her. When he didn't, she walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "What?"

"I want to go home." she said, still avoiding his eyes.

"I'm not ready to go." he said.

"Please." Rachel pleaded.

"No, Rachel." Logan said irritation in his voice, turning to face the table again.

* * *

Mercedes couldn't believe that she was at a Puckerman party; but she didn't really have much of an option. When she got home from school that day, Malory decided that was the perfect time for the Jones women to sit down and discuss the wedding. She had no interest but she figured she give it a try. Mercedes was totally down to help out and give ideas until Malory pulled out this picture of the most horrible gangrene color dress that she'd ever seen. She told Mercedes that this was her dress. As her maid-of-honor she had to dress appropriately. Too bad the dress would have flushed her out and do nothing for her figure. When her mother agreed that the dress was perfect for Mercedes she decided that if they were going to make her wear a dress the color of an infection that she wouldn't be around to pick it out.

She made her way through the crowd in search of Kurt. And low and behold,

there he was, lounging by the pool drinking out of a coconut.

"Hey!" he said looking away from the group of Cheerios that were surrounding him. He rose from his chaise and walked over to his friend. "You made it."

"Yeah. It was this or help plan my sister's wedding. I opted for teenage merriment." Mercedes said taking a sip of Kurt's drink. "What's with the Cheerios?"

"Well, apparently there is some juicy gossip. I was trying to put my self in the know." Kurt said glancing back to the girls.

"Oh. Well, I'm gonna go find something to eat." Mercedes said.

"I'll tell you when I find out." Kurt called after her.

"Don't bother." she called back. Mercedes had heard enough gossip to last her. When Quinn first went missing her and her friends were always right in the of the hottest gossip. As she made her way back through the crowd, she spotted a familiar face. "Tina?"

"Hey." the pretty Asian girl said. She was talking with Puck. "How are you?"

"I'm ok. How are you? How long have you been back?" Mercedes asked.

"About a week." Tina said. "We have classes together."

"Oh. Cool. I'm glad your back."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's nice to see you." Mercedes said with a sweet smile. "Can I talk to you alone?" Tina stiffened at the question. She hadn't had a private conversation with Mercedes is over a year.

"Sure." she whispered.

"Are you and Puck together?" Mercedes asked.

"What?"

"I know you used to have a huge crush on him."

"I did, but no. I'm not dating him. I've been back a week." Tina said with a laugh.

"Well he is cute." Mercedes said with a wink.

"Shut up." Tina said playfully slapping Mercedes arm.

"It really is good to see you, Tina."

"You too." the girls shared a brief hug and Mercedes walked away.

"You ok?" Puck asked when Tina returned.

"Yeah."

"That was weird, huh?"

"Yeah but not for the reason you think." she muttered as she watched Mercedes walk through the crowd.

* * *

Santana wandered through the crowded party. Since Nick left her to go hang out with his friends and Tina was off talking to Puck she was alone. Not that she minded. Being alone allowed her to be who she really wanted. Santana used to be strong and confident and super outgoing but a year ago when Quinn went missing she became introverted and unsure of herself. So when she was alone she got to be the person that Quinn picked to be friends with.

_Santana stood in a long line of hopefully girls who hoped to be Cheerios. She was nervous but she knew she was good. She was in line right behind, Rebeca Thoms, while they watched Sandy Whitford try-out. Santana had heard that they weren't friends with Quinn anymore. She had no idea why but for some reason it made her excited._

_When Sandy was done, she stood and awaited judgment from Coach Sylvester, Becky Johnson and Quinn Fabray. Everyone watched as the three of them had a quiet deliberation. Then they all faced the front again. Quinn had her best bitch face on._

_"Terrible." Coach Sue said into her megaphone. "That was absolutely terrible. If I wanted girls that looked like eggs on stilts I'd call the circus." Sandy began to cry. "Next!" Sandy ran from the gym, Rebeca close behind her. Santana was next. She took her place ._

_"I'm Santana Lopez. I wanna be a Cheerios because I love this school and I'm good." she said with a bright smile. "Hit it." she said to the Cheerio manning the CD player. She did her routine and at the end she stood and awaited her judgment. She watched as the three of them put their heads together. When they faced her again, Quinn spoke._

_"That was amazing. We could really use someone like you." she said sweetly. "If the rest of you can't bring that kind of awesomeness, you should probably just go home."_

_"So, I made it."_

_"Yeah, Tana. Welcome to the Cheerios." she said. Santana squealed and as she ran off the gym floor she glanced back at Quinn who winked at her. From that moment on Quinn took Santana under her wing. They were inseparable._

"Hey, watch where you're going." A voice said bringing her out of her memory.

"Oh sorry." she said.

"Are you ok?" Brittany asked her.

"I'm fine. I am sorry about running into you."

"No worries. You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." Santana said.

"You wanna hang out?" Brittany asked. "I found this pretty cool place."

"Ok. Let's go." Santana said as she was being led away by the hand by Brittany. "Where are we going?"

"Here." Brittany stopping in the middle of a circle. It was a high hedge that was cut into a giant circle. Inside it were tables covered with cameras. "Wanna take some memories?" she asked picking one up.

"Sure." Santana laughed. They posed together and snapped photos. Laughing and having fun, Santana blushed at the picture taken where Brittany kissed her on the cheek. She really like Brittany. It was kind of instant. There was something about her that made her want to spend time with her. She made her laugh and blush and feel like herself, well for the most part. Santana was caught off guard when Brittany planted a kiss on her lips. It was soft and passionate and sensual. They both began to get into the kiss. Their hands finding body parts and caressing. "What was that?" she asked breaking their kiss.

"What?" Brittany asked looking around.

"Did you take a picture?"

"Well, yeah. But with my phone. Why?"

"Oh. I saw the flash." Santana said. "I should go."

"What's wrong?" Brittany asked.

"I shouldn't have done that. We shouldn't have done that." Santana said frantically.

"Why not?"

"I'm not gay, Brittany."

"Who said anything about being gay?" she laughed.

"When girls kiss other girls it's usually because they're gay." the Latina said running her hands through her long silky hair. "But I'm not gay. I have a boyfriend."

"Is it such a big deal to be gay?" Brittany asked adjusting her boyfriend Tee. "

"Well, no but I'm not." Santana said. "I'm gonna go." she said. She didn't give Brittany a chance to say anything else she just left the hedge.

* * *

Mercedes, Tina and Santana all ran into each other on their way to the pool. They all greeted each other and began to make pleasant conversation.

"Excuse me." a brown hair girl said as she brushed past Santana.

"Rachel?" Santana said.

"Oh. Sorry Santana. I didn't...I'm sorry." Rachel said adjusting her shiny gold headband. "Mercedes."

"Hi Rachel." the beautiful black girl said.

"Hi Tina. It's nice to see you."

"Thanks. It's actually nice to be back." Tina said with a smile.

"What are you guys doing?" Rachel questioned.

"We're...just...talking." Mercedes answered.

"Oh." Rachel said. "Well, it nice talking to you guys but I'm going home."

"Why?" Tina asked. "This party is  _mad awesome._ " Santana laughed out loud.

"I don't want to be here anymore." Rachel said looking over her shoulder at the raucous pool game. "See ya." The three of them watched as Rachel marched away. Her exit caused a silence that consumed the other girls bringing them back to that awkward feeling that drove them apart in the first place. They said each said goodbye to each other before drifting back in the sea of people.


	12. Another text message from 000-000-0000

**XXXXXXX Rosewood Avenue – Saturday September 1, 2012 12:45am XXXXXXX**

Rachel Berry sped down Rosewood Avenue in Logan's brand new Mustang Shelby GT500. It was dark blue with racing stripes. The only problem she was having was that she couldn't drive a stick. She kept grinding the gears and missing the shift. She decided that it was best to pull the car over to side of the road when it started to click, stick, rumble and smoke. She got out leaving the keys in the ignition. She walked to Miles Kimball Park, sat on the swings and called Vanessa.

"Rachel, where did you go?" Vanessa asked.

"I left. I was...I didn't get...just come and get me please." Rachel said.

"Where are you?"

"MKP."

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." she said. Rachel hung up the phone and began to gently swing. She began to cry in the silence. She didn't understand why Logan would say the things that he said or why he would act that way toward her. She didn't think that wanting to be with someone like was so bad. Her thought were broken when her phone began to beep. She pulled it back out of her bag. It was a text message from 000-000-0000. She touched the message and read it.

**Guess Shelby didn't pass her bedroom prowess on, huh Rach. Too bad you couldn't do it. Or should I say Logan?**

**-Q**

* * *

**XXXXXX The Jones House – Saturday, September 1, 1:00am XXXXXX**

When Mercedes Jones got home there were wedding magazines and pictures of horrible dresses and ugly bouquets. Mercedes rolled her eyes. She went to the stainless steel double door and grabbed a bottle of water. She gasped when she turned around.

"Jesse."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." the gorgeous man said. "You're home late."

"I went to a party." she said cracking the seal on her bottle.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah actually."

"Well, do you wanna talk about it?" Jesse asked as he took a seat at the island.

"Not much to talk about." Mercedes said, as stood beside him. "I mean there was a weird moment when I was...it was nothing."

"You can tell me anything." he said looking into her eyes. "You know that right?"

"Thank you for that but I need to think about this myself. There's a lot of stuff to go with it and I just don't want to talk about right now."

"Alright. No pressure."

"What are you doing in here?" she asked. "The barn has a kitchen."

"Malory wants Voss and we only had Fiji." Jesse said rolling his eyes.

"Right because water from Norway tastes so much different." Mercedes teased. Jesse laughed and the two of talked for about twenty more minutes.

"I better get this water to Mal." he said sweetly.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want you to get in trouble." Mercedes said with a shy smile.

"Right. She's not as bad as you think."

"Not to you."

"Well, goodnight Mercedes." Jesse said with a kissed to her forehead.

"Night." she said as she watched him disappear out the back door.

As she made her way up the stairs her phone began to sound. She pulled it out of her pocket and it was another text message from 000-000-0000. She opened it and read it.

**What would Malory say if she knew you were making googly eyes at her man?**

**-Q**

* * *

**XXXXXX The Cohen-Chang House – Saturday, September 1, 2012 – 1:25am XXXXXX**

Tina Cohen-Chang got home later than she thought she would but Santana had a hard time getting Nick into the car. Her family was all in bed so she grabbed a bottle of juice and went to her room.

She changed her clothes and climbed into bed. She scrolled through her phone and she ran across Mike's name. She knew it was late but she decided to call anyway.

"Tina. It's late." he said when he answered the phone.

"I know. I just wanted to say goodnight." she said softly.

"Goodnight."

"Wait."

"Why?" Mike questioned. "What's left to say?"

"I don't want you to be mad at me." Tina said.

"I'm not. I'm just trying to move on." he said. "I'm your teacher and you shouldn't be calling me this late. It's not right."

"But you answered." she said. "You must have wanted to talk to me."

"Don't do that." he said. They were both silent for a moment. "Look, I'll see you at school on Monday." Then she heard the click. She text him and said ' _goodnight Mike'._  A few seconds late, her phone went off. The message read ' _Night Tina'._ She smiled and rolled over. She lay there for a while when her phone went off again. Excited she grabbed her phone; but the excitement drained out of when she saw the number 000-000-0000.

**Goodnight, sleep tight, jailbait.**

**-Q**

* * *

**XXXXXX The Lopez House – Saturday, September 1, 2012 – 1:35am XXXXXX**

Santana Lopez got home later than she wanted to. Nick was so drunk she had a hard time getting him in the car. Her mom and sister were in bed already so she decided to turn in as well.

She changed her clothes and brushed her hair then flopped down on her bed. She couldn't sleep. All that kept running though her head was the kiss, or well make out session, she shared with Brittany. It wasn't the first kiss she had shared with a girl but it was the first one in a long long time. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push the memory away; but she couldn't. It made her feel all kinds of different feelings. All of them confusing. She rolled onto her side just as her phone began to beep. She grabbed and inhaled sharply. The message was from 000-000-0000.

**Kissy, Kissy Tana. Oh my, oh my. What would Nick say?**

**-Q**


	13. The Pierce House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey. So here is chapter 13. It's short but I wanted it to be. I felt like any longer than it would have lost the desired effect. Also, everyone should thank Luvelle for getting me in gear and updating this story.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> And as always, COMMENTS = LOVE!
> 
> *CHARACTER DEATH*

**XXXXXXXX The Pierce House - Saturday, September 1, 2012- 12:35PM – XXXXXXXXX**

A crowd began to form in front of the Pierce house on Dudley Road. Fire trucks, squad cars and ambulances were keeping the ever growing crowd from getting to close.

Santana, her sister and her mother were in the house having a girls' day. They heard all the noise and Santana ran toward the window.

"Where are they going?" Christina asked as she dried her nails under the LED light dryer.

"The Pierce house." Santana whispered. "Mom, I'll be back." she said as she slid her feet into flip flops and pulled her maxi dress up to her knees and jetted out of the house. As she got around the corner, she saw Brittany and her parents in the front yard and on the other side of the street she saw her three former friends standing together. Santana ran to the police barricade.

"Brittany!" she called to her. Brittany ran over to her and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm so sorry Santana." she whispered.

"For what? What's going on?" Santana asked frightened.

"They found Quinn." Brittany said releasing her.

"That's good news though right?" Santana asked. "Where is she?" Brittany just hugged her again.

"What's going on Santana?" she heard Mercedes asked her.

"They found Quinn." Santana said turning around to see her old friends.

"Where is she?" Tina said with bright eyes.

"Guys, I don't think you understand. She's not ok." Brittany said.

"Who are you?" Rachel asked with an attitude.

"I'm Brittany. I just moved in." she answered. Before she could say another word the EMTs appeared around the corner of the house pushing a body in a black bag toward the ambulance.

"Who is that?" Mercedes asked fighting back tears.

"I'm so sorry." Brittany whispered. "The construction workers found her. She was a few feet under the ground by the tree line."

The four friends grasped hands and watched as they loaded their friend into the back of the ambulance. Tears streaming down all of their faces, they just stood there even after all of the sirens and the people had gone.

"I have to go." Mercedes whispered releasing Santana's hand. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah I better go too." Tina said releasing Rachel's hand before walking way. Rachel and Santana remained there, hands clasped.

"It's over Santana. I'll see you tomorrow." Rachel said letting go of her hand and walking back toward her house. Santana took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her eyes, turned and walked home.


	14. Funny Girl, Brown Baby

**XXXX – The Berry House -Monday, September 3, 2012 - 8:15am XXXX  
**

Rachel had been a complete mess. She never actually thought that Quinn was dead. She thought that she had just ran away with some guy and by now she was living it up on a beach. She had no idea that she was buried in her backyard. They had all lived within walking distance but no one ever imagined...

Every time she closed her eyes all could see was the black bag. She didn't sleep on Saturday or Sunday until her mother laid with her and sang _Funny Girl by Barbra Streisand._ The stage version.

“ **A fella loves to be with a funny girl.**

 **The evening flies when he's with a funny girl.** **  
****Female gigglers do better than wigglers.** **  
****Fancy dancers are fast on their feet but slow with the answers.** **  
****The boys don't want the tragic and teary kind,** **  
****They've got a thousand problems to cloud their mind.** **  
****Some ladies find when they've lost their guys,** **  
****They should have made faces and crossed their eyes.** **  
**Debutantes **would give up the social whirl,** **  
****To be a funny, funny girl.** **  
****The boys don't want the tragic and teary kind,** **  
****They've got a thousand problems to cloud their mind.** **  
****But if true love should decide to come,** **  
****You'd better keep those laughs to a minimum.** **  
****And when his lips feel softer than bunnies,** **  
****Show him that you'll do more than make funnies.** **  
****Tell him it's real, if he ever leaves, you'll die.** **  
****I said "No jokes, funny girl."** **  
****Even funny girls can cry.”** Hearing her mother sing the famous words of Fannie Brice always comforted Rachel. She would finally fall asleep and see herself in Fannie's infamous fur hat.  
"Rachel?" Shelby asked as she entered into her bedroom. "You're late for school." Rachel didn't even answer. She just rolled over. She didn't care about school. She just wanted to lay in bed and cry. "Come on baby."  
"I don't want to go." Rachel said in a quiet voice, tears streaming.  
"It'll be ok. Your friends are gonna be there with you." Shelby said, wiping the tears from her daughter's face. "You can't lay in bed forever."  
"Why not?"  
"Because it's not going to change anything."  
"Oh." Rachel whispered.  
"You have a guest. She came over to help you get ready for school." Shelby said walking over to the door. When it opened, Vanessa walked in.  
"Oh Rach. I'm so sorry." she said climbing into bed with her best friend.  
"Thanks." Rachel said hugging her.  
"Your mom said you gotta go to school."  
"Yeah. I'd rather not but whatever."  
"We could always ditch." Vanessa said. "Hit up the mall."  
"Maybe." Rachel said smoothing her dark hair.  
"Come on. LC would want you to skip." Vanessa joked. Rachel rolled her eyes and chuckled.  
"Ok. I gotta get ready." she said as she crawled out of bed.

* * *

 

Rachel and Vanessa left the house and headed straight to the Westerville Mall. They couldn't risk being caught in the mall in Lima. Plus the WVM had the most amazing stores. Rachel was almost positive that retail therapy wouldn't get her mind off of what happened but it would definitely distract her; at least for a little while. Vanessa parked her cute Prius and the two of headed inside. They window shopped until Rachel finally found her favorite store. The Peach Pit. Before, when she would go shopping with...her old friends she didn't like how any of the clothes fit on her. She was just puffy. She didn't have curves like Mercedes. But now that she was a perfect size 4 she loved the store and all of their amazing clothes.

She shopped around for sleeveless dresses, pleated miniskirts, knee socks and sweaters with unicorns, hobby horses and carousel horses. The two of them laughed at a group of ladies well into their forties trying on the same styles as them. Rachel and Vanessa separated to try on more clothes and met up again at the table that was covered in an array of make-up.

“You getting anything?” Rachel questioned as she thumbed through the lipglosses.

“Yeah.” Vanessa said. Rachel watched her as she picked up a tester bottle of perfume and sprayed it on the back of her hand. “I like that.” Rachel gave her a thumbs up, but her breath caught in her throat when she watched her best friend put the tester down and pick up and brand new bottle and slide it into her bag.

“What are you doing?” she whispered harshly.

“I can't get all of this and the perfume too.” Vanessa said nonchalantly. “Plus the rush is numbing.”

“What are you talking about?” Rachel asked. “That's stealing.”

“It's called making me feel better.”

“What?”

“Whenever I'm upset. I just swipe something. No big. The adrenaline rush is amazing. It makes me forget why I'm upset. At least for a few hours.” Vanessa said quietly as she slide a couple of eyeliners into her bag. “The more I take the better I feel, longer.” Rachel couldn't believe it. “Try it Rachel. I promise you'll feel better.” Rachel was hesitant. What if she got caught? She still had to pay for her clothes. “You can put it all in my bag.”

Rachel took a deep breath, grabbed a bottle of Gold Star, her favorite lotion. She looked around the store and when she saw no one was looking at them she slid it into Vanessa bag. She gave her a thumbs up and wide smile. Rachel couldn't believe it. Vanessa had been right. She felt a burst of energy and it knocked a chunk of her sadness away. She grabbed a few other things and put them into Vanessa's bag. They paid for their clothes and even got a discount. She felt amazing. She was still upset about Quinn but for now, the sadness was gone. She wrapped her arm into Vanessa's and she led her down the walkway toward another score.

  
 **XX -William McKinley High School – September 3, 2012 – 8:45am – Journalism Room- XX**

Mercedes stood in front of the drafting board vaguely shuffling through papers. Principal Figgins had informed her first thing that he wanted The McKinley Chronicle to run a story on Quinn. He said that as editor and one of her closest friends it was her responsibility to make sure that the memorial for Ms. Fabray was tasteful and not at all depressing. Not at all depressing. How the hell was she supposed to pull that off?

“What are you doing?” a voice behind her asked. Mercedes almost didn't hear it.

“What?” she asked turning to see Devaugh Jacobs. He was tall with chocolatey skin. He had light brown eyes and he was really muscular; too bad Mercedes hated him. “I'm minding my business.”

“Well, I need to talk to you.” he said leaning against the drafting board beside her.

“About?”

“The Fabray piece.”

“What about it?” she asked cutting her eyes at him.

“I think that you should let someone else do it.” Devaugh said, crossing his arms.

“Why?” Mercedes questioned.

“Conflict of interest.” he said. “You shouldn't editorialize an article like this.”

“I don't even know what I'm going to write yet.”

“I'm sure it'll be a thousand word piece of fluff bestowing the amazing virtues of one Quinn Fabray.”

“It's a memorial.” she said annoyed. “Talking about good times and good memories isn't editorializing.”

“Maybe not but you're emotional.” Devaugh said as he followed her across the room to her desk.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Mercedes asked indignantly.

“You'll let your emotions cloud who Quinn really was a person.”

“Like you would know, Devaugh. She never gave you the time of day.”

“She didn't know what she was missing.” he said.

“She knew _exactly_ what she was missing.” she said. “Nothing.”

“Listen Mercedes. I already talked to Figgins.”

“So did I. And he didn't mention you.” she said annoyed. “Look, I'm not sharing this with a bitter guy whose editor application essay sucked and now he's the MC's sports reporter.”

“That's not what this is about.” Devaugh said.

“I don't care what it's about.” Mercedes said. “You're being completely insensitive and I don't need this right now.” she said before she stormed out of the room. She ran to the only place in the whole building that she knew she could be alone; the library. She found the most secluded spot she could find to hide and think; the reference aisle. She leaned against one of the shelves and slid down to the floor. Mercedes leaned her head back and closed her eyes. All she kept seeing flash before her was the EMTs pushing the zipped black bag on a gurney.

 _After everyone had gone, Mercedes and her former friends still stood there. She was the first to leave. She_ _couldn't_ _take it anymore. Standing there was causing her too much pain. She wished that she hadn't seen all the emergency vehicles racing toward Dudley Road from the window seat in her bedroom. She pushed her feet into her designer booties and ran downstairs and down the street. When she arrived she spotted Tina and Rachel standing across the road, watching silently._

 _“What_ _'s_ _going on?” she asked as she approached them._

_“No clue.” Tina said, her face saddened._

_“There goes Santana.” Rachel said as they watched her run toward the police barricade._ _The three of them shared and glance and quickly hurried across the street to join her._

_“What's going on, Santana?” she had asked._

_“They found Quinn.” Santana said turning to face them._

_“_ _Where is she?”_ _Tina asked._

 _“_ _Guys, I don't think you understand. She's not ok.” the pretty blonde girl said with a stricken face._

_“Who are you?” Rachel asked her with an attitude._

_“I'm Brittany. I just moved in.” she answered. And that's when Mercedes and her friends grasped hands and their world stopped and then came crumbling down. She stood there for as long as her stomach could handle it._

_“I have to go.” she said releasing Santana's hand, and then out of habit said, “I'll see you guys tomorrow.” Mercedes ran all the way home. She burst into the backdoor and collapsed onto the island in the kitchen._

_“Mercedes? Are you alright?” Jesse asked her. He had been at the fridge. She couldn't talk. All she could do was sob on to the tiled counter top. “Let's get you upstairs.” he said softly. He helped her stand up and_ _she_ _leaned heavily into him. He brushed her fallen hair away from her face and they walked up the stairs. Jesse opened the door to her room and brought her in. Mercedes just flopped down on the bed, face first. He pulled her shoes off, pulled the covers back and slipped her underneath them. “Do you wanna talk about what's wrong?” he asked rubbing her back. She shook her head no. Jesse took a deep breath before leaving the room._

_A few hours later, Mercedes was awakened by the sound of her mother humming. Darla was laying next to her sleeping daughter, humming and caressing her hair._

_“Are you alright baby?” Darla asked quietly._

_“I don't know.” Mercedes said hoarsely._

_“What do you need me to do?”_

_“Just be here, mom.” she said_ _scooting closer. Darla pulled Mercedes close to her and held her tightly. She began she cry when her mother began to sing her favorite verse from the lullaby_ _**Brown Baby by Diana Ross.** _

_**“Brown baby, brown baby. Now baby, lie away.** _

_**Lie away sleeping. Lie away here in my arms.** _

_**While your mommy and daddy protect you.** _

_**And keep you save from harm.”** _ _Darla crooned softly._ _Mercedes never felt more safe and calm then she did when her mother sang to her._

_“It can't be true.” she said while her mother hummed. “I didn't see what I saw today.”_

_“I know you don't want it to be true baby, but it is.”_

_“How do they know?”_

_“The clothing and they already had DNA on file because when she first went missing Judy and Russell gave one of her hair brushes to the police.” Darla informed her daughter._

_“Mom...” Mercedes whispered._

_“I know baby. I know.” she said squeezing her downtrodden daughter tighter._

“Mercedes?” a voice said. She opened her eyes and standing before was the all to ready to do her job, Ms. Pillsbury. “Are you alright?”

“Yes.” Mercedes said rising to her feet. “I was just thinking.”

“Are you sure? I'm here to talk if you want.” the pretty ginger said sympathetically.

“Thank you, but I'm fine.”

“Well, the bell rang. Here's a pass.”

“Thank you.” Mercedes said taking the scented pink paper that said _HALL PASS FROM THE GUIDANCE OFFICE across the top. She smiled at the petite woman before she headed off toward her locker._  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DO NOT OWN FUNNY GIRL: FROM THE BROADWAY SHOW FUNNY GIRL, BARBARA STREISAND, FANNIE BRICE, BROWN BABY OR DIANA ROSS. JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE.


	15. Gloria Estefan, Storage Facilities

**XX- William McKinley High School–September 3, 2012 –Mr. Chang's English Class –8:15am -XX**

Santana had been living in a fog all weekend. She knew that her mom and Christina tried to comfort her and they did but for some reason she couldn't get past this. Her mom had done all the things she did her for as a child to get her to sleep. She read to her and gave her dulce de leche in her favorite Gloria Estefan bowl.

But sleep is not what Santana wanted. When she closed her eyes she saw a nightmare. She wanted to stay wake and never go to sleep. But her mom wasn't having that. She said that grieving people need sleep. It's the only way for the heart to heal. The only problem was her heart would never heal. Not now.

“Hey.” Nick said sitting beside her. She gave him a weak smile. “Why didn't you wait for me?”

“I just wanted to get here. Get this day...this week over with.” she whispered.

“I'm sorry.” he said. Santana nodded. She knew that he had no idea what else to say. He had never known anyone who died. Most of the kids at their school hadn't. That made Santana feel even more alone.

She had completely forgotten that Tina was in the same class as her until the small Asian girl took the seat beside her. Tears stung her eyes when Tina didn't even look her way. She knew that everything would go back to the way it was. When Mercedes came into the room she spoke briefly with Mr. Chang. He put his hand on her shoulder, she nodded and left the room. At least there's only one person in the room that won't look at her. But that was because everyone else was cutting glances at both her and Tina. As if they knew something. It was going to be a hard day but Santana knew she had to do her best to ignore all the stares.

Every now and then she would glance at Tina but she would never look her way. But she could tell that Tina was crying. She wanted so bad to talk to her and tell her that she felt the same decaying feeling inside but she said nothing. When the bell rang she was the first one out of the room. She ran to her locker and then to her next class. Santana couldn't handle all the whispering in the hallways. Why couldn't people get that someone's dead? They should be mourning not staring at her. She spent the rest of the day by herself. She didn't sit with the rest of the Cheerios at lunch. She didn't ride home from school with Nick. She didn't eat dinner with her mom and sister. She wanted to be alone. She didn't want to talk about it. Or anything. Quinn was really gone and how she'll never know.

**XX- William McKinley High School -September 3, 2012 –Mr. Chang's English Class -8:17am -XX**

Tina's parents were handling her with kid gloves; and she knew it. Over the past two days they had given her everything she wanted, sometimes without her asking. When she came home crying and she tried to tell her mom what happened but she couldn't. She couldn't make her brain form the words. But her father had heard about the news. Tina heard him telling her mom that they found her friend. She was in her old backyard. Tina's insides felt like they were being twisted around every time someone made mention of Saturday afternoon.

Monday morning she rolled out of bed, showered, ate breakfast and drove to school silently. Alex just put his earbuds in, but Tina didn't turn on the radio. What if Quinn's favorite song came on? Once they arrived at WMHS, Alex bolted from the car. Tina didn't blame him. She was terrible company at the moment. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the hell she was about to endure.

Eyes. Whispers. That's what the halls were full of. She couldn't escape them. No matter had bad she wanted to. She couldn't hide forever anyway. She grabbed her books and ran to English. She spotted Santana sitting beside her empty desk. She avoided her gaze.

The bell rang and Tina watched as Santana ran from the room. She wished she could do the same; but she couldn't get her feet to move. She wondered if Santana had noticed her crying. She hoped not. It was embarrassing but she couldn't help it. She was heartbroken.

“Tina?” Mike asked as he knelt beside her desk. “Are you alright?” She couldn't answer him. She looked into his brown eyes and just let go. She threw herself into Mike's arms and sobbed. He started to look around to see if anyone was watching but he didn't care. He just wanted to make sure Tina was ok. “I'm sorry for your loss, Tina.”

“Don't say that.” she said tearfully.

“But...”

“No...I can't take that.”

“I don't understand.” Mike said.

“I didn't lose Quinn.” Tina said snuggling deeper into his chest. “She's...she's...dead.”

“I'm so so sorry Tina.” he said holding her tightly, brushing her hair away from her face. “What can I do?”

“Nothing. Nothing. Just be here for me. Please Mike. Not as my teacher.” she said craning her neck to look him in the eye.

“Tina I can't...” he interrupted.

“I really need a friend right now Mike.” she said new tears springing from her eyes.

“I can be a friend.”

“Thank you.”

“Do you wanna go home?” Mike asked, his lips pressed to the top of her head.

“No. My parents are...ugh.” Tina said shaking her head. Mike wiped a tear away with the pad of his thumb. “I just want to go somewhere I can think. Somewhere I don't have to feel like everyone is staring at me or whispering about what they think I know.”

“Shit.” Mike said. “Um, here.” he said reaching into his pants pocket.

“What is this?” she asked taking the key he had removed.

“This is the key to my storage space. It basically has all my furniture in it.” Mike said, closing her hand around the key. “Don't ask; just go and take as much time as you need.”

“Thank you.” she said her glossy brown eyes shimmering. She stood up and hugged him tightly. She wanted to kiss him but she resisted. Mike wrote her a pass. Tina thanked him again before she left for some much needed alone time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DO NOT OWN GLORIA ESTEFAN, IT'D BE WEIRD IF I DID!


	16. Hastings Funeral Home

**XXXX -Hastings Funeral Home - Saturday, September 8, 2012 - 1:00pm - XXXX**

  
It had a week since Quinn's body was discovered and Mercedes, Santana, Tina and Rachel felt an even bigger strain on their none existent relationship.  
School was hard because there were memorial posters plastered everywhere with a picture of Quinn giving her best 'I know all your secrets' smirk. Principal Figgins and Ms. Pillsbury, the timid but all about her job, guidance counselor had set up grief counseling. Where was that a year ago?

* * *

  
The Jones family and Jesse arrived at the Hastings Funeral Home at 12:45pm. The funeral wasn't until 1:30pm but Mercedes had wanted to get there early into order to get the perfect seat. In the very last row, by the wall. As far away from the aisle as possible.  
"You ok?" Jesse asked her as they walked into the cold building.  
"Why are these places so cold? Mercedes muttered as she squeezed his hand. She gasped when she felt her other hand get grabbed.  
"Are you alright?" Malory asked sincerely. Mercedes only nodded yes. Malory's actual concern for her was alarming. "There's Mrs. Fabray." Mercedes looked down by where the sleek black casket sat. Mrs. Fabray looked haggard. She tired to hide behind Jesse so that the mother of her friend didn't see her but it didn't work.  
"Mercedes." Judy Fabray said as she made her way down the aisle, her arms outstretched. "I'm so glad you came. Quinnie loved you so." she said hugging Mercedes tightly. "Will you please sit up front with us?"  
"Of course she will." Darla said. "We're so sorry for your loss."  
"Thank you but we're just thankful to have some kind of answers." Judy said with a weak smile. She grabbed Mercedes hand and pulled her down the aisle behind her.

* * *

  
Rachel and Shelby arrived at the Hastings Funeral Home at about 1:00pm. The last week had been hard for Rachel. It was so dramatic and traumatic just like a Broadway show but this wasn't the Gershwin and Quinn wasn't playing dead. But she was grateful for her mom and Vanessa. They had helped her a lot to deal.  
"You ready." Shelby asked as she held the door open for her daughter. Rachel nodded and crossed the threshold. There were already people milling around inside. She spotted the Jones family and coming toward her was Mrs. Fabray.  
"Hello Rachel." she said hugging her.  
"Hi Mrs. Fabray." she said softly as she returned the hug.  
"Russell and I decided that all of Quinnie' friends should sit up front with us."  
"Oh."  
"Thank you." Mrs. Fabray said as she pulled Rachel down the long asile. "Right here." she said allowing Rachel to slide into the pew.  
"Hi Rachel." Mercedes said softly.  
"Hi Mercedes.". She said matching her tone. They smiled gently at each other before grasping hands.

* * *

  
Santana, her mom and sister got to the Hastings Funeral Home at about 1:05pm. Maria Lopez held her daughter's hand tightly as they entered inside. She spotted Shelby and the Jones Family but no Rachel or Mercedes. She couldn't understand why. They were Quinn's friends. Suddenly she was wrapped in a hug.  
"Santana." Mrs. Fabray said.  
"Hi." she said in a soft tone.  
"Please come sit up front with us." Judy said holding the Latina's hand. Santana just nodded and followed Judy. She stopped at the second pew and allowed her to slide in.  
"Hi Santana." Rachel said.  
"Hey." she said quietly. "You guys too."  
"Yeah." Mercedes said with a shrug. They shared a soft laugh and Rachel took Santana's hand.

* * *

  
When the Cohen-Chang family arrived at the Hastngs Funeral Home at about 1:10pm, Tina's phone vibrated. It was a text from Mike. That read, 'Meet me at the bathroom.' She told her parents that she needed to freshen up she'd meet them inside. She rounded the corner and ran into Mike.  
"Hi." he said quietly.  
"Hey." she said softly. He stepped up to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.  
"How are you holding up? Mike asked, still hugging her.  
"Been better." Tina said reveling in his embrace. "What are you doing here?"  
"All the teachers came." he answered. "And I wanted to be here for you."  
"Thank you." Tina said hugging him tighter. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Don't kiss me unless you're going to kiss me on the mouth." she whispered.  
"Tina." he exhaled. "Look, this is too hard for me." he said letting her go.  
"What?"  
"Being around you. I want to kiss you all the time."  
"Then do it" she said. He held his hand out.  
"No. I'm you're teacher." he said avoiding eye contact. "I'm too old for you."  
"Either you want me or you don't but you know where I stand." Tina said turning and leaving Mike standing by the bathrooms. When Tina finally got into the inner parlor Mrs. Fabray was waiting for her.  
"Oh Tina, there you are." she said hugging the Asian girl. "All your friends are here." Tina stumbled down the aisle behind her. When they stopped Tina looked at the pew and saw Mercedes, Rachel and Santana. They all waved and she sat down. "Thank you girls for coming. Quinn loved you all so much." They all smiled before Mrs. Fabray left to go greet more funeral goers.  
The four former friends sat there silent for a few minutes until Rachel broke the silence.  
"Mrs. Fabray smelled like martinis and olives, right?" she asked causing the other girls to cover their mouth to hide their laughter.  
"Girl stop." Mercedes said finally getting control of herself. She happened to look over her shoulder and suddenly she inhaled sharply.  
"What's wrong?" Santana asked.  
"Isn't that Lilly Star and Sam Evans?" she said still looking behind her.  
"Oh my God! What are they doing here?" Rachel asked as they all watched as Sam helped his blind stepsister into a pew.  
"Did they move back to Lima?" Santana whispered.  
"No way." Tina said. "Not after what happened."  
"Shhh." Mercedes said. "Did you tell or something Tina?"  
"What? No way! "The Lilly Thing" will stay with me beyond forever." Tina said. "Did any of you guys tell?"  
"No!" Rachel said indignantly. Santana shook her head furiously no.  
"Good." Mercedes said, glancing once more over her shoulder at the handsome blonde boy and his auburn hair stepsister.  
While they were sitting there Rachel's phone goes off. Her face covered in panic. The other three look at her. She pulled her phone and let out a deep breathe.  
"It's Vanessa." she said texting back.  
"No one asked." Mercedes said.  
"What?" Rachel said.  
"Who did you think it was?" Tina questioned.  
"No one." Rachel answered.  
"Yes you did." Santana said. "You looked scared to look." Rachel was silent for a moment.  
"I've been getting these...strange texts." she whispered.  
"From who?" Mercedes asked holding her hand.  
"I don't know. There's no number but the texts are signed..."  
"Q." the other three whispered. They looked at each other with wide eyes.  
"But it can't be..." Santana said looking toward the front.  
"No way." Rachel said.  
"I believe in ghosts and stuff but not ones that use cellphones." Tina said.  
"Well, I think it's over." Mercedes said. "I haven't gotten one since last Saturday."  
"Me either." Santana said. "Have you guys?" Both Tina and Rachel shake their heads no.  
"See? I'm not overly concerned with some loser playing a horrible prank." Mercedes said matter-of-factly.  
"But..." Santana began.  
"But nothing Santana." She said. "It's over." Mercedes said just as the music began to play to signal the beginning of the service.  
The service rolled by and the girls stood as the sleek black casket covered in yellow flowers was wheeled past them. They all held hands and walked outside together. While they were standing on the sidewalk a tall dark hair man approached them.  
"You all were friends with the deceased?" he asked.  
"Who are you?" Mercedes asked.  
"Detective Will Schuester." he said handing each of them a card. "If any of you have any information about her death, call me." he said eying each of them. He walked away and the girls let go of the breathe they were holding. The crowd outside of the funeral home parted when Sam and Lilly came out. They watched as he helped her across the sidewalk and into a black car.  
Before any of the girls could speak their phones went off simultaneously. They looked at each other panicked. They all pulled their phones out and touched the new message from 000-000-0000. They read aloud,

**I'm still here bitches. And I know everything.**

**-Q**   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The above Q message was originally from A. So with that said, I DO NOT OWN IT, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, GLEE OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU CAN SEE IN THE REAL WORLD.


	17. Thank you

**Hey guys. Thank you so so much for reading Pretty Little Liars.**

**I wanted to let you guys know that I've decided to turn this story into a series. So, please continue on to Part 2 - Pretty Little Liars: Secrets.**

 

**Thank you.**

 

**MsMKT86**


End file.
